The Dark Furie

Quite often in the Final Fantasy games Kim would do something that cracked me up every time. When given a quest she didn't like she'd turn around to the quest giver with her character and start hurling abuse at him. She'd start to walk away and then just come back and tell this little bunch of pixels exactly where he could stick his quest. It was so funny seeing that happen, and just made me wish that some game would give you that option at some point as it would actually be a good role-playing addition.

When Fable came along we were completely unprepared for it. Suddenly here was a role playing game that let you flip people off if they pissed you off. You could flirt with people (both male and female) which could later lead to marriage with almost anyone. Kids wandering in the street could be punched if you felt like being mean. There were so many interactions that could be simply performed, ranging from an evil laugh to air guitaring in a fantasy world. When I realised that killing people meant that you could buy their house and rent it out to the next poor chumps who came along I soon started slaughtering whole villages. It felt fantastic, freeing; it felt like the game I'd been waiting for all those years ago when Streetfighter 2 was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. Every time I played I found a new way to make the game a different experience for myself. Yet, despite everything that was included in the game it was still missing some things that would make it the game I was really after.

Fable 2 Reviews
Gamecinemahd 9/10
Eurogamer 10/10
Rpgsite 9.6/10
Planetxbox360 9.5/10
IGN 9.5/10
Gamereactor Sweden 8/10
Gamereactor Norway 8/10
Xboxlife Danish 10/10

It's 2008 now and Fable 2 is almost upon us. This game takes everything from the original game and bulids upon it to make an amazing living world. For the first time in gaming the world really does react to you. Learned how to let out a blood curdling scream? Try using it in battle to scare weaker enemies away. Better yet, use it in a shop and watch the shop keeper give you a discount out of fear. Think you're tough enough to wipe out an entire town? Give it a try, but be prepared for the fact that the town will be detroyed for ever in the game. Been a goody two shoes and completed lots of quests? Yeah, that would explain why people are meeting you as you come into town, telling you how great you are and asking for your autograph. Been away from your family for a while? You may be surprised that your son has a new tattoo then, or that your wife is having an affair. Been eating a lot of unhealthy foods? That would explain why you've piled on so much weight then. The simulated world in this game reacts to every choice you make and changes a little (or sometimes a lot) for every decision you make, as does your character. Characters in the Fable universe look how they are viewed by the world. Being good all the time will make them see you as a saint, complete with halo and butterflies floating constantly around you. Being bad will cause you to grow horns and slowly turn into a fiery demon. Even something as mundane as buying a new jacket can get the townsfolk calling out to you in admiration or disgust, depending on their individual tastes. Dress right, act appropiately (which can mean anything from totally pure and good, to totally corrupt and evil depending on the person) and you may find yourself with a chance at marriage. Saving all your money and investing in busiinesses and property may allow you to become a property tycoon, or perhaps even king if you save enough. Perhaps you'll just get a regular job, settle down in a town you like and raise a family. There's nothing to stop you from doing anything you want to in this game, which is appropiately subtitled "This is your story. Who will you become?" And that's what I've been waiting for over seventeen years to find in a videogame. Fable 2 comes closer than anything else I've ever played and from the sound of the reviews it wont let me down on Friday, when it's finally released. You may not see me for a while after that.